‘Have A Theme, Limit The Guestlist And Pair Your Drinks’: Laura Whitmore’s Top Tips For Virtual Hosting

With her summer now freed up for other exciting opportunities, Laura has become quite the virtual socialising pro – with her birthday this week resulting in a number of separate celebrations. The next morning I actually felt like I’d had a night out.’ Now, she’s lending her hand to virtual hosting advice – partnering with Grey Goose to host a virtual dinner party masterclass this Thursday on their Facebook page – but she’s shared a few tips just for us… ‘If everyone is doing it in their household, you feel like you’re all in it together,’ Laura says. ‘On my birthday, my boyfriend made me a Darth Vader cake and then we created “out of this world” cocktails. ‘Don’t go overboard on the guestlist, I’ve done this with online quizzes and stuff when you have so many people on a Zoom and you just can’t talk to everybody,’ she says. Don’t exclude people but maybe do the parties more and often rather than one big one where you can’t talk to anybody.’ ‘Why doesn’t everybody bring something different to the table?’ Laura asks. ‘I did an afternoon tea with my friend last week and she actually baked a cake and sent it to my house which was so lovely! ‘So I think use things you’ve already got in the house, light some candles or put out some flowers and while the weather’s so nice just use the natural light.’ ‘For my birthday party, we all tried to dress our houses to the Star Wars theme as much as possible so some people stuck stars up and things like that,’ she adds. ‘So on Thursday I’m going to do a Grand Fizz and then a Cosmopolitan for the main course with a twist, and then I’m really missing an Espresso Martini, so that’s my treat for dessert.’ Laura Whitmore has partnered with GREY GOOSE® to share her top tips for hosting the ultimate virtual dinner party. Tune in to the Grey Goose Facebook page on 7th May from 5pm – 5:30pm for Laura’s exclusive live masterclass. Click through for the best cocktail recipes to whip up in lockdown... 50ml GREY GOOSE Vodka 30 ml Single Origin Espresso 20 ml Coffee Liqueur + Pinch of salt 5ml Simple Syrup (Sugar and water) Method: Add spirits, salt, and coffee flavours in a shaker. Ingredients: 25ml Two Birds Gin 25ml Sweet Vermouth 25ml Campari Ice Slice of orange (for garnish) Method: Pour the gin, vermouth and Campari into a mixing glass or jug with ice. Ingredients: Ice 50ml Tequila reposado 25ml Lime juice 20ml Triple sec Salt and 2 lime wedges (to garnish) Method: Sprinkle a few teaspoons of salt over the surface of a small plate or saucer. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add the tequila, lime juice and triple sec. Ingredients: 60ml Vodka 1 tbsp Dry Vermouth Olive or lemon peel (to garnish) Method: Stir the vodka, dry vermouth and a little ice together or put them in a cocktail shaker to combine. Strain into Collins glass, top with crushed ice and garnish with orange peel. 60ml Spiced Rum 30ml Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice 30 ml Syrup (whatever flavour you prefer) Fresh mint leaves (to garnish) Method: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Ingredients: 50ml BULLDOG Gin 20g Spinach 60g Apple 60g Cucumber 5g Ginger 5ml White balsamic vinegar 10ml Lime juice 10ml Agave syrup Method: Blend the green ingredients together in a blender. Once the sugar syrup is cold, pour 1 tbsp into a cocktail shaker along with a handful of ice, the vodka, espresso and coffee liqueur.